Looking for comments on a SuperMax 25/50

[Mike Henderson]

I've been watching CraigsList for over a year waiting for a decent used 22/44 drum sander to come available. Came close on one but no success.

So I've decided to just buy new. The SuperMax 25/50 looks good to me but I want to get some opinions from people who own one first. I have a 16/32 now but it only works well for 16". Trying to do two passes to get wider always leave a mark on the panel. I want a drum sander that will take a 20 to 24 inch panel.

A few questions about the 25/50:

1. The motor is 1.75HP which is about the max you can power on a 120V 20A circuit. Do you find that it's underpowered, especially when sanding a wide panel?

2. Should I buy the infeed and outfeed extensions? Or does it work okay without them?

3. If you own one, are you generally happy with it? Glad you bought it?

4. Any other comments about it will be appreciated.

Mike

[Cary Falk]

1. I don't find the 1.75hp motor underpowered. The sandsmart slows things down if you take off too big of a bite. This is not a widebelt nor a planer.
2. I bought them. Don't use them much. I don't find them all that helpful on really big heavy pieces. I can't get them adjusted well enough. They are a pain to put on and remove. I am trying to devise a drop down mech. to get them out of the way. For many short pieces they provide a place to gather instead of falling on the floor.
3.I am very happy I got it. I used to have a Grizzly 18/36 which drove me batty sometimes even though I got it on CL for $450 and sued the crap out of it for 7 years and sold if for the same money.
4. What bugs me a little bit is that the conveyor is from the 19/38 and a roller platform makes the other 6". It works fine if you are using the full 25". It doesn't work all that great if you want to run narrow pieces on that 6" so that part of the drum is mostly wasted. I have not tried to run a 25+" board through it yet. I don't expect any issues . It worked fine on my 18/36. Boards that big tend to be very heavy and very hard to manage.


The conveyor belt hasn't moved in 2.5 years.

[John C Bush]

Hi Milke,
I have the closed end version-SuperMax SandPro 25-and use it a fair amount for my hobby habit. I think all the mechanicals are the same. Myconveyor belt is full width tho. The key to using it is patience and taking small bites per pass. The SandSmart keeps me in line as well. I like the tables as I can roll it out of the way and not lose shop space. I had a 16-32 and sold it when I found the 25 used/almost brand new and it works much better for me. I just finished a solid cherry desk top 24" x 50" x1" using 100,120,& 150 grits then finished with my cheapo ROS. I bought 220 grit but don't use it much, if at all, as it clogs and burns too easily. If a burn line developes I discovered that a brass bristled brush(Harbour Freight) will clean off the paper and spare replacement--for a while--but does extend the life of the paper. I make fly fishing landing nets and finish sand the 1/8" x 3/4" x 50"+ lamination strips with no problem so thin and skinny stock is possible as well. Good luck shopping!

[Ken Krawford]

Mike your post is a week or 2 early for me. I just finished assembling my SM 25-50 last week but only ran a couple of test pieces so far. My outfeed tables arrived yesterday and I'm assembling them today. At first glance they appear to fold down which will be nice to reduce the footprint of the machine. I had them on my 16-32 and liked them especially when sanding shorter pieces. Without them, shorts would quickly fall off the sander but with the outfeed table they can lay there until I walk around and pick them up for another pass.
I'm very impressed with the sander's construction. It's a real beast at over 400 lbs. You'll need a strong helper to set the upper unit on the stand.

[Mike Hollingsworth]

I had one before I opted for my Wide Belt.
First thing I hated about the 25/50 was the legs. Always in the way, took up way too much shop space.
Second Thing is the Flex. Since the bed moves and not the drum, I married the open side with some lumber.
But mostly I got tired of replacing burnt paper. Get something that Oscillates!

I guess I had the old double drum 25/50.
More machine, but still a pain

[Mike Henderson]

I had one before I opted for my Wide Belt.
First thing I hated about the 25/50 was the legs. Always in the way, took up way too much shop space.
Second Thing is the Flex. Since the bed moves and not the drum, I married the open side with some lumber.
But mostly I got tired of replacing burnt paper. Get something that Oscillates!

I guess I had the old double drum 25/50.
More machine, but still a pain

Thanks for your comments, Mike. The 25/50 I'm looking at has a different base and the head moves up and down, not the bed. I understand your comment about burning and will check out oscillating sanders, but I think they will be more dollars than I want to spend. I have a 16/32 now and have learned how to minimize burning.

Mike

[Mike Henderson]

Mike your post is a week or 2 early for me. I just finished assembling my SM 25-50 last week but only ran a couple of test pieces so far. My outfeed tables arrived yesterday and I'm assembling them today. At first glance they appear to fold down which will be nice to reduce the footprint of the machine. I had them on my 16-32 and liked them especially when sanding shorter pieces. Without them, shorts would quickly fall off the sander but with the outfeed table they can lay there until I walk around and pick them up for another pass.
I'm very impressed with the sander's construction. It's a real beast at over 400 lbs. You'll need a strong helper to set the upper unit on the stand.

That's good news that the extension tables fold down to get them out of the way. Thanks for your comments.

Mike

[Mike Henderson]

I went ahead and ordered the 25/50 with the open base. Acme Tools has a 10% off sale for the next 15 days (I assume it available to everyone - I received an email about it) so that helped.

I'll let you know what I think of it after I receive it.

I'll sell my 16/32 once I get this one up and running.

Mike

[Dave Zellers]

I went ahead and ordered the 25/50 with the open base. Acme Tools has a 10% off sale for the next 15 days (I assume it available to everyone - I received an email about it) so that helped.
Mike

Mike- was this specific to the 25-50? I'm really close to buying the 19-38 and hoping to find a similar deal. Acme was already my dealer of choice.

[Mike Henderson]

Mike- was this specific to the 25-50? I'm really close to buying the 19-38 and hoping to find a similar deal. Acme was already my dealer of choice.

I think the 10%, up to $150, was for anything you bought from Acme. I received an email about it but I think it was on their website, also.

The promotion code was WC100FF-DKF9M and it said it was good for 15 days. I received it on 1/15/2018. I don't know if that code was specific to me or a general code. I already ordered my 25/50 - supposed to arrive tomorrow.

Good Luck!

Mike

[The email said you had to be registered with the site, and logged in, in order to get the discount. Send me a PM with your email address and I'll forward the email I received from them, to you.]

[Mike Henderson]

The SuperMax 25/50 arrived today. I wasn't home but my wife was and she was able to get the delivery person to put the boxes just inside our gate.
2018-01-24-SuperMax001.jpg

I started to unpack the unit. It was well packed and there was no shipping damage that I can see. The feed belt assembly came in a separate box and will be installed after I get the main unit installed on the stand.
IMG_3967.jpg

I've got the stand put together, except for the casters. I'm going to take the casters off of my 16/32 and put them on this stand.
2018-01-24-SuperMax003.jpg

If all goes well, I'll rent an engine hoist tomorrow and put the unit on the stand. It's HEAVY.

I'll post more as I get the unit assembled and running.

Mike

[Mike OMelia]

Mike, that supermax is a sweet sander. If I ever upgrade from my Performax 22-44, it will be to that exact model that you bought. Supermax folks were the same ones behind Performax before Jet bought them. My motor is 1.75, never an issue. I cant see why I would need 25", I build guitars. But more is always better. In my book. lol. One thing I'd warn about is the stand. My stand is very similar, and as you noted, the sander is VERY heavy. I ended up adding angle iron cross beams to mine. And heavy duty casters. If you find your stand unacceptable, let me know and I'll send you pics of how I did it.

[Mike Henderson]

Mike, that supermax is a sweet sander. If I ever upgrade from my Performax 22-44, it will be to that exact model that you bought. Supermax folks were the same ones behind Performax before Jet bought them. My motor is 1.75, never an issue. I cant see why I would need 25", I build guitars. But more is always better. In my book. lol. One thing I'd warn about is the stand. My stand is very similar, and as you noted, the sander is VERY heavy. I ended up adding angle iron cross beams to mine. And heavy duty casters. If you find your stand unacceptable, let me know and I'll send you pics of how I did it.

Thanks, Mike. The stand appears to be pretty solid but if I have any issues, I'll contact you.

I went with the 25/50 because I occasionally do a panel that's maybe 24 inches. Don't think I've ever done any bigger than that. I have a 16/32 but often exceed 16 inches and it's a fiction that you can sand half at a time without any issues. It'll be really nice to put a wider panel through the sander and get it even across - same thickness across and no line down the middle.

Now, all I need to do is get it lifted up on the stand.

Mike

[Mike OMelia]

Mike, I lifted my 22-44 by myself. would not want to do that again. Lol!! If you have any doubts, do the reinforcement now while there is nothing on the stand. Basically run angle iron around base below the platform.

[Mike OMelia]

Here is what I did, as u can see, the stand is very similar to yours.